


Grace

by TonyPie17



Series: Rose of Every Colour [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bilbo and Nori in the garden, Flower Language, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hinted Bagginshield, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 11:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3487160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TonyPie17/pseuds/TonyPie17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo spies the first of his roses in the marketplace, and the only one in bloom makes him think of a certain Thief...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grace

**Author's Note:**

> I just posted the prologue last night, I know, but I have to write what comes to me.

Nori was quiet on his feet. Anyone that knew the thief understood this. Where many other Dwarrow tromped around, making their presence known before they had even entered the room, Nori could silently slip in and out without anyone noticing he was ever there. Such was the skillset of a thief; he had to be accustomed to moving silently, without others ever noticing he was there. He was quick witted, with a silver tongue to help him out of even the most dire looking situations.

Which was why he was so skeptical when Gandalf had first introduced Bilbo to the Company. He was already the Company’s thief; he had every qualification to do what Bilbo was brought on board for, everything except the fact that he smelled of Dwarf. What made Bilbo any different from him?

Bilbo’s ingenuity, and determination, and his bravery, and his will. It took seeing Bilbo Baggins standing before the Pale Orc, ready to face him down even if meant the end of his own life. Bilbo Baggins was truly extraordinary.

And if Nori doubted Bilbo’s skills before then, his doubts were all but extinguished when Bilbo burgled the entire Company from King Thranduil. A thief of thieves, to steal from the Elven King of Mirkwood and do so without once getting caught. Nori accepted Bilbo as one of his own, and vowed to teach the Hobbit the tricks of the trade.

(Even though Bilbo vehemently denied needing to know how to steal.)

Bilbo admired Nori’s ability to be as quiet on his feet as himself. When most Big Folk saw Hobbits, the first thing they honed in on were their rather large feet. It made the Big Folk thing that Hobbits were loud creatures, incapable of moving about silently. But that was not at all the case. Hobbits were relatively light on their feet, quicker than any Big Folk (and most definitely quieter than _Dwarves_ ). Which was why Bilbo admired Nori in the way he did.

Nori had, and Bilbo knew the Dwarrow would deny it if he heard it, grace. It was the only word Bilbo could use to describe it.

Which was why when Bilbo spotted the pale pink rose in the markets of Dale, he immediately decided he needed to have it in his garden. He bought it and several seeds for future roses, each one putting him in the mind of different Company members.

Thorin, who didn’t have to attend to any particular matters until later in the evening, was surprised when Bilbo practically rushed the Merchant who was selling the fragrant flowers.

“What meaning do these have for you?” Thorin asked as he looked at all the different flowers seeds. Some he had never even heard of, but Bilbo seemed familiar with each and every one of them.

“You would be very surprised,” Bilbo chuckled. He held the only rose that was in bloom in his hand, smiling at it softly. He looked at Thorin, who was watching him closely. He blushed a bit, clearing his throat. Thorin smiled and nudged him a bit.

“Do flowers have the same meaning to Hobbits that gems have to Dwarves, Master Baggins?” he asked teasingly.

“Indeed they do, Master Oakenshield,” Bilbo laughed. He paid for the seeds and held the rose close to his heart.

“What does this one mean?” Thorin inquired now, genuinely curious.

“That is not for you to know,” Bilbo replied cryptically. He placed his finger over his lips in a shushing motion. “And it is a secret to be kept between me and one other of our friends.”

Thorin rose an eyebrow, but he said nothing more.

[][][][][]

Bilbo found the Master Thief hiding out in his pantry, probably from Dwalin once again. Nori had been bugging the warrior a lot recently, hiding Grasper and Keeper and using underhanded tricks in the ring to really get Dwalin going. Bilbo had watched only a single sparring session between the two, but he knew the way Nori worked Dwalin up was entirely intentional.

“Nori,” Bilbo called, arms crossed. The Dwarf looked back (and he most certainly did _not_ jump when he suddenly heard Bilbo behind him) and grinned when he spotted Bilbo.

“Bilbo! To what do I owe the pleasure?” he stood and walked over, a hand resting on Bilbo’s shoulder.

“Since you’re already hiding―” Nori coughed, cheeks pinking the slightest bit, “―why don’t you come help me in the greenhouse?”

Nori’s eyes lit up. Bilbo didn’t usually ask for much help in the greenhouse (aptly named the Baggins Garden) since he wanted to get things growing himself before he had any Dwarrows come bustling through to trample all over his flower beds. But Bilbo trusted Nori not to ruin things, so he beckoned the thief to follow him through the halls of his smial and out to the garden.

Bilbo led him to the nursery, where there were many smaller plants just beginning to bloom in the sunlight. Nori glanced about, eyes watching his feet to ensure that he didn’t accidentally step on anything. He had great confidence in how lightly he moved on his feet, but the last thing he wanted to do was ruin Bilbo’s flowers.

“Here,” Bilbo pushed a pot of dirt over to Nori, who stood a bit awkwardly in front of the nursery bench.

“What’s this?” he asked. Bilbo smiled, and produced a small seed that had Nori leaning in closely to really look at.

“That, is going to be your responsibility,” Bilbo stated proudly. He took Nori’s hand and dropped the seed into it. Nori stared at it for a bit longer while Bilbo waited expectantly. It took a moment before Nori realized he was supposed to put the seed _in_ the dirt.

“You want me to plant it?” he asked, frowning.

“Yes. When you plant this I want you to take very good care of it, because in time it will become this.” As Bilbo spoke, he produced the rose he’d seen in the marketplace. Nori stared at it in awe. He wasn’t usually all that partial to flowers, but there was something about this one, something that made his heart flutter a bit.

“In the Shire, Hobbits give flowers of special meaning to their friends,” Bilbo explained. “This flower, a pale pink rose, means grace.”

Nori rose an eyebrow at that, looking at Bilbo with skepticism in his eyes. Bilbo knew it was coming.

“A thief is very graceful, Nori,” he continued. “He is agile and quick, light on his feet with an air of confidence. You, my dear friend, are very graceful.”

The way Bilbo said the words made Nori puff up with a bit of pride at having it acknowledged. He did often feel that he was rather agile, and there was no doubt that he was quick. Hearing the words said by his fellow thief (even if Bilbo still refused to acknowledge his title of thief) made his heart soar.

“Then I will plant it and I will treasure it,” he finally grinned. Bilbo’s own smile grew, and he picked up the trowel (a gift given to him by Dain, who had decided that Bilbo would need garden tools if he wished to work in his greenhouse), handing it to Nori.

“Remember to check up on it. I’ll not do your work for you,” Bilbo warned. Nori nodded sagely, understanding the weight of the responsibility given to him.

“I will take care of it, Bilbo, on my life this I swear,” he responded. Bilbo looked a little startled to hear it said like that, but shook his head, laughing.

“I trust you to, Nori.”

[][][][][]

Thorin shrugged off his formal robes and hung them up, moving through Erebor’s personal Bag End to find Bilbo. They needed to talk about the Elven delegation coming through Erebor soon, and Thorin wanted to know if there was any way he could simply skip that meeting (though he knew Bilbo would say no, there was still no harm in trying).

“Bilbo―” Thorin stopped in his call when he spotted a vase sitting closer to one of the windows so that direct sunlight could shine down on it. Inside the vase was a single flower, the rose he had seen Bilbo pick up in the marketplace of Dale.

“Thorin, you’re early. You didn’t leave Balin alone in that meeting, did you?” Bilbo walked in from the direction of the kitchen, and he noticed Thorin’s fixated gaze. He followed the Dwarf King’s line of sight and smiled when it rested upon the vase.

“Something caught your eye?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. Thorin snapped from hus stupor and looked at Bilbo, before smiling a bit.

“It seems a bit lonely,” he noted casually.

“Don’t worry,” Bilbo chuckled, “There are many more to come.”

**Author's Note:**

> All Dwarves chosen at random
> 
> (AKA I've already got a queue lined up and I'm just gonna leave you all guessing at who comes when)


End file.
